Burnin' Up in Texas!

And I don't mean BBQ! Well, maybe some BBQ. Last Tuesday I was frantically working to finish painting the eaves on the gable ends of our barn before my fire team was activated (I had a funny feeling!). I was able to borrow a "cherry picker" lift from my neighbor (the peaks are about 45 to 50 feet high) to make the job safe and relatively easy. As I was starting the prime coat, Kim came outside to tell me that my team had been activated!

Turned out we were being called to assist the State of Texas Forest Service in dealing with the numerous and stubborn wild fires that have been plaguing them all year. The state is undergoing its worst drought in recorded history, and the forests are extremely dry and explosively flammable.

The good and bad news was that I could schedule my departure for Wednesday. This meant that I could get the painting job to a point where I could leave it, and the primer would still take a finish coat on my return. (The sun breaks it down in a couple of weeks, but since I could put a finish coat on all the exposed surfaces, I should be OK.) However, this meant that I had to continue working straight through until 8:00 that evening. By the time I finished I was pooped! (I will post about the paint job later)

The scene from the command post the evening before
we joined local forces in unified command

Next morning I nearly missed my flight getting out of bed at 4:00 am, and arriving at the Reno airport at 5:25 am for my 6:00 am flight. I was surprised and worried to see a pretty long line at security! I was lucky because, if I had been one minute later, the line would have been twice as long, and I definitely would have missed my flight. I was the last one to board as it was.

Fire burns a couple of thousand feet
from the command post

Our mission is to provide support to wild fire suppression efforts in Southeast Texas over a 20,000 square mile area. We are based out of Conroe, just north of Houston. We began our task by traveling to a fire about 40 minutes from our command center in Conroe to offer assistance. After two days of unsuccessful effort on the part of the local firefighters, we were asked to get more involved and take a direct role in managing the fire alongside the three county command posts already dealing with it. This was extremely complicated as you might imagine, but after a day or two we were fully integrated into the effort.

Food service volunteers

The pressure was on since I think at first the local jurisdictions thought we were trying to take things over from them. Luckily, with good work by all the line firefighters, and a slight mediation of the weather, success was attained. The fire is now 85% contained, and it looks like we will be able to scale back the number of firefighters and associated equipment after tomorrow.

We will head back to Conroe, and start preparing to assist on new problem fires as they develop. This is a totally new type of assignment for me. I am assigned as the team safety officer with overall responsibility. That responsibility is not new. However, it is difficult since we do not have actual responsibility for putting the fires out, we are only providing assistance and support which is different from our normal role.

There is a whole different firefighting culture here. Most forces are volunteer firefighters, and their logistical needs are almost wholly provided with volunteer labor and supplies from the local community. It is absolutely amazing. In California we would have a contract caterer providing meals, where here the folks from the community show up with food and serve the firefighters. They pulled in a huge portable BBQ, and we have some of the most delicious fire camp food I have ever tasted each night.

Volunteer work hard at the BBQ

This is all provided at no cost. On top of all that people are falling all over themselves to thank us, and express their appreciation and support. There is a dispensary chock full of over the counter medical and personal hygiene supplies donated by local stores. It is also staffed by volunteer medical personnel. Every morning the local coffee company comes and brews and serves coffee (at no charge). When our team got here some of the volunteer food servers had been at it for 4 straight days, providing food for hundreds of people each day. They thought our team was going to replace them with a caterer, and were very upset about it, many were in tears. Of course that was not our intent unless they requested it. What we did was offer technical assistance and advice to them to make their operation more efficient. They were greatly relieved.

Fully stocked dispensary for
over the counter needs.

The command post is located at the local high school. What a beautiful school (and big!). The football stadium is larger than many college stadiums! We are set up in the industrial arts building. There is a full wood shop, and a magnificent auto shop along with classrooms. School is back in session today since the fire is less of a threat and nearly contained.





 Well, that's about it for now, gotta get back to work!